Sintro
by bikelock28
Summary: "Or, you know, now...we could all get a beer now." Two people walk down some stairs. Written for HIMYM 10 Years Ficathon organised by BeneathTheUmbrella.


**End of 1.02** ** _Purple Giraffe (_** **…I was about to write '10 years ago today' but then I realised this episode takes place a week after** ** _Pilot._** **But anyway…).**

Sintro

 _September 2005_

"I'll see you, Ted,"

He watches her walk away across the rooftop and some part of that heart of his, the heart which Marshall will one day describe as "drunk and a kid", makes him blurt, "Or, you know- now,"

Robin halts and looks around.

"We could all get a beer now," Ted suggests ( _casually_ , not making eye contact _)._

Her face breaks into a smile, "I'd like that," she agrees, and they both know that she means it. Ted smiles back and crosses over to the stairs.

"My friends are gonna _love_ you- like you," he cringes, "Y'know- as a friend...jackass,"

Robin giggles, but lets it go to ask, "Right, your friends. Lily, Lily's fiancé-" (Ted does a little happy smile at the word 'fiancé')- "and the blond in the suit. Who's he?"

"Oh, Barney? He's certifiably insane. Seriously, dude's nuts. He's got some awful opinions about women, fake history and how to pick a tie, but he's fun. Anything could happen when you hang out with Barney. He takes some getting used to, but I think you'll like him. Although be warned: He will hit on you,"

"Yeah, I've totally seen him checking me out. But you hit on me too,"

"I asked you out! We had a date!" Ted objects. They're heading down the stairs on the outside of the apartment block, the metal steps clanging against their shoes, "Barney'll just want to love you and leave you- probably through the bedroom window while you're in the shower,"

"And this man is your best friend?"

" _Marshall'_ s my best friend. You haven't spoken to him properly have you?"

"Not much, but you and Lily both talk about him a lot,"

"He's great! Smarter than he lets on, and he wouldn't hurt a fly. And he can do the robot!"

"He doesn't seem very New York-y?"

"What, not as New York-y as me?" Ted replies, bursting with NYC pride, "And you're right, he's from Minnesota. He's got a huge Scandinavian family- and by huge I mean huge peop-"

"Minnesota? No way! My Mom was born in Thunder Bay, its right near the border,"

Ted is silent for a moment, so Robin stops on the stairs and turns around to face him. He's staring at her blankly.

"You know. The border,"

Blank stare.

"With Canada,"

"Your Mom was born in _Canada?"_ Ted asks, still not moving.

" _I_ was born in Canada? Didn't I tell you that on our date?"

"I thought you'd been there temporarily for work! You don't mean that you're...?"

"Canadian? Yup,"

 _"Canadian? You?"_

 _"_ Yeah, me. What's that supposed to mean?"

Ted snickers. "Nothing. Just… _Canada_ …"

She swats him on the arm, and starts walking again. "Shut up. Back to Marshall…"

"Right. He's been my best friend since college, we've basically never lived apart since we were eighteen. He's the best at Star Wars trivia-"

"Sounds cool," Robin snarks.

-"and he sings, plays piano. He's good at games as well. Board games, quizzes- that sort of thing,"

"Board games and Star Wars? _Wow,_ you two are _badasses,"_

"Hey!" Ted protests, but already he likes this; bantering with each other, her droll sense of humour (see, he said _likes_ , not loves. He's acing this 'friends' thing already!). "Anyway," he continues happily, "Marshall and Lily met at the start of Freshman year and then it was- boom- nine years later here we are. They're perfect for each other, destiny- everyone says it- you can tell that, right?"

"They're cute, but I reckon 'destiny' is a little strong,"

"You don't believe in destiny?"

"Nah,"

"Another cynic. I knew you'd like Barney; he's cynical about everything….except for his own craziness,"

"So how the heck does Lily cope with you two dorks and the crazy boy?"

"Well, Lily Aldrin is an infamous and proficient puppet-master. Nothing makes her happier than interfering in our lives- by 'ours', I mostly mean mine. You want gossip- she's your girl. You want schemes- she's your girl. You want the top ten closest shoe stores to our apartment- she's your girl,"

"I'll bear that in mind. She's a teacher, right?"

"Kindergarten," he nods, "She'll probably drag you into her school at some point to talk to her kids when she can't be bothered to lesson plan,"

"Ehh, kids aren't my thing,"

"No?"

"Let me guess: You've already planned out the names of your future children who you're not forcing into sports,"

"Luke and Leia, _duh,"_

She rolls her eyes. They've reached the bottom of the building's stairs now, and Ted leads the way round to the front of the apartment block.

"It's been Marshall and me since the first day of college, Lily since a couple of weeks into term, and Barney started hanging out with us four or five years ago," Ted explains, skipping down the steps to MacLaren's, "The four of us hanging out in MacLaren's,"

"It's cool that you have a bar literally ten seconds from where you live,"

"Actually if you're being _literal_ it's twenty-three seconds from door-to-door at average walking speed," Ted announces. Robin follows him through the bar door, electing not to reply to his pedantic correction.

"Oh, when you met Lily you met another important member of our gang- our booth,"

"Your _booth?"_

"Yeah- that booth there," he declares, pointing to where Marshall and Lily are sitting beside each other, "Everything happens round this booth. Come on," he grins, leading her over, "Come take a seat".

 **Happy ten years, everybody! xxx**


End file.
